Updates, advisories and surprises

(5:05 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Finish Line, Inc.
FINL, -1.61%
on Thursday reported a second-quarter loss of $874,000, or 2 cents a share, vs. a profit of $13.1 million, or 24 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding discontinued operations, the athletic shoe retailer would have posted a profit of 21 cents a share. Sales fell to $298.7 million from $337 million. Analysts polled by FactSet Research were looking for earnings, on average, of 21 cents a share on sales of $309.7 million.

H-P sees earnings, sales up in 2010 fiscal year

(5:00 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. [hpq] said Thursday that it expects its 2010 fiscal year earnings-per-share to be between $3.60 a share and $3.70 a share, on revenue of $117 billion to $118 billion. The forecast was given by Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak at H-P's annual analysts' meeting in San Francisco. Lesjak said that such numbers represent earnings growth of 17% to 20% over H-P's 2009 fiscal year, while revenue should rise 3% to 4%. Excluding charges and one-time items, Lesjak said H-P expects to earn $4.20 a share to $4.30 a share for its 2010 fiscal year.

Research In Motion earnings fall on charge

(4:15 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Research In Motion Ltd. saw its earnings slip by 4% in its second fiscal quarter as a legal settlement charge offset strong sales of the company's popular line of BlackBerry devices. For the period ended Aug. 29, the Waterloo, Ont.-based company
RIMM
said it earned $475.6 million, or 83 cents per share, compared to earnings of $495.5 million, or 86 cents a share, for the same period last year. Results for the recent period include a charge of $112.8 million related to the settlement of a patent dispute with Visto Corp. Excluding the charge, RIM said it would have earned $588.4 million, or $1.03 per share, for the recent period. Revenue jumped 37% to $3.53 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1 per share on revenue of $3.62 billion, according to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters.

(8:59 AM ET) CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Vail Resorts reported a sharply wider loss in its fiscal fourth quarter Thursday, capping the ski-area operator's year of declines in almost every meaningful industry metric, from visitation to lodging. Vail
MTN, +0.35%
lost $38.7 million, or $1.07 a share, in the seasonally slow quarter, vs. a loss of $11.1 million, or 29 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue fell to $102 million from $271 million. Looking ahead to the current fiscal year, the company said that while the macroeconomic outlook has stabilized, "our visibility at this point is limited" although it expects some improvement in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) even as overall profit declines.

3Com earnings and revenue fall

(8:16 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- 3Com Corp.
COMS
said Thursday that first-quarter earnings were $7.5 million, or 2 cents a share, compared to $79.8 million, or 20 cents a share, in the same period a year ago which included 17 cents a share from a favorable patent dispute resolution. Revenue was $290.5 million, compared to revenue of $342.7 million in last year's period, a 15% decrease. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were 8 cents compared to 11 cents a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, earnings per share of 5 cents and sales of $279 million. 3Com shares were steady Wednesday at $4.78 for the networking company.

A123 Systems prices IPO above range

(7:22 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A123 Systems Inc.
AONE
priced 28.1 million shares at $13.50 each, raising $378 million ahead of its stock market debut on the Nasdaq on Thursday. The Watertown, Mass. lithium ion battery maker tapped into growth expectations for electric vehicles. A123's initial public offering priced above its already-increased range of $10 to $11.50 a share, while increasing the size of the deal by 2.4 million shares. On Tuesday, A123 Systems fattened the price of its IPO to $10-$11.50 a share, from $9 to $9.50 a share

McCormick earnings rise in quarter

(7:15 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- McCormick & Company Inc.
MKC, +0.06%
said Thursday that third-quarter earnings were $75 million, or 57 cents a share, compared to $69 million, or 52 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales were $792 million compared to $782 million. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, earnings per share of 55 cents and sales of $795 million. The Sparks, Md. spice maker narrowed its earnings-per-share guidance for 2009 to a range of $2.26 to $2.28 from $2.24 to $2.28.

Lloyd's of London pretax profit up 39%

(3:51 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Lloyd's of London, the U.K. insurance market, said Thursday that its pretax profit for the first half of 2009 rose 39% to 1.32 billion pounds ($2.16 billion), helped by relatively low levels of catastrophe claims. The group said its combined ratio weakened slightly to 91.6% from 89% a year earlier. The combined ratio is a measure of underwriting profitability, with a figure above 100% indicating that payouts exceeded premiums. The insurance market said a "conservative investment mix" resulted in a positive return of 708 million pounds during the period. "External conditions, however, remain difficult with the U.S. windstorm season and recessionary trends continuing to pose a threat to the insurance industry," the group said.

JJB shares drop 8% as loss widens

(3:31 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Shares in U.K. sports clothing retailer JJB Sports(UK:JJB)fell 8.2% Thursday after the company said its net loss for the 26 weeks to July 26 widened to 27.2 million pounds from 263,000 pounds a year earlier. The company said revenue for the period fell 21% to 167.3 million pounds, largely due to stock shortages in its stores during the period. Gross margin narrowed to 34% from 48.7%. JJB said its restructuring efforts will allow it to rebuild inventories by the first quarter of 2010. "Although the retail environment remains challenging, we are encouraged by the early signs of improvement in like-for-like sales trends and gross margins in recent weeks," the Executive Chairman David Jones.

3i Group investments drop 75%, debt reduced

(2:46 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. private equity firm 3i Group(UK:III)said Thursday that it invested 155 million pounds ($254 million) in the five months to the end of August, a 75% decline from a year earlier. Realizations in the period fell 20% to 448 million pounds. The group said it has strengthened its balance sheet by cutting net debt to 858 million pounds from 1.91 billion pounds at the end of March and by agreeing two new credit facilities for a total of 350 million pounds. 3i will revalue its portfolio at the end of September, but noted that gains in valuation are unlikely to fully reflect the strong performance in stock market indexes since the end of March for several reasons, including currency movements and an increase in the pension fund deficit.

LSE daily value traded down 43%, headcount reduced

(2:24 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The London Stock Exchange(UK:LSE)said Thursday that in the five months to Aug. 31 the average daily value traded on its SETS electronic trading system declined 43% to 4.6 billion pounds ($7.6 billion). Total money raised on the group's markets during the period was broadly flat at 43 billion pounds, with 30 billion pounds coming from secondary issues on its London market. The yield on U.K. cash equities was 0.94 basis points and the group said its new tariff structure introduced at the start of September will reduce the yield by around 10%. In derivatives, the number of contracts traded rose 6%. After announcing plans to cut jobs in July, the LSE said Thursday that the process is mostly complete, with 133 staff, or around 12% of the workforce, leaving the group. This will cut costs by around 11 million pounds a year and result in a 14 million pound one-off charge.

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